All Saints Gather Lutheran Church

'People of Christ, Living in Community & Working in Partnership'

AllSaints

Pastor Alan Eschenbacher of All Saints Lutheran Church in Spokane WA since June of 2002. Undergrad from Gonzaga University in Spokane WA, seminary studies at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley CA. Married to Laurel in 1980, three children, nine grandchildren.

Why do I think “participation” is a problem? Especially in the church, participation is critical. Members of a church must participate in order for the church to continue doing ministry. Over the last 50 years active participation of members (defined as activities beyond simply attending worship services) has dropped from 60-70% to less than 20%. The reasons for this are many and varied from family to family, I won’t go into that here, but you know what they are. Distractions and busyness of life simply get in the way of having the time to give to church things. Finances at the church have followed this downward path also because if members are not participating in the ministry they “forget” to give an offering as well.

Now to change gears quickly, I am not publishing this to complain or accuse or shame any members of any church. People must set priorities in order to navigate life. If church has dropped on the priorities list then the church needs to address why that has happened. In order for the church to “figure out” what’s going on though, members must give input so that needs can be met and the future of the church can be looked at with accuracy. If there is no information given from members, church will continue on the same path until it meets it’s end.

The competition for your time and money has intensified greatly in the last few years. There are more charitable organizations vying for what seems to be less and less time and dollars. Taking care of ones self and family seem to be all that is manageable in a most cases. This 50 year “trend” has caught up to the institutional church and decisions must be made. Change is no longer an option but a necessity. I am in favor of change and am looking forward to seeing what the future holds for the church. However, some modicum of participation in this process must happen from members if they are interested in what happens to their church. This participation, here at All Saints over the next 5 months, will determine the “way” we will go into the future. We have options and opportunities, but we need participation in the process to avoid the predicament of “having no choice”. If we do nothing the time will come when there are no options or opportunities left, and we will join the list of “what might have been”.

God gives us free will to make decisions and to “do” what we think is best. As Christians we are called to using that freedom in defense of those who have no resources or ability. We are called to serve one another and to love those we serve. HOW that is done is NOT etched in stone, there are new ways and new ideas, lets find some together.

The “Church” seems to be on the wrong side of the success equation. Church advocates a society built on community, whereas the society we have created here in the United States, is built on individualism, greed and competition. This has created, as Walter Brueggemann states, a Predatory Economy. This type of economics creates inequality, suffering and environmental disaster. The capitalism we are so proud of in “first world” countries will be the end of society if we are not careful. Some of the more pessimistic among us believe that it is already too late to stave off environmental disaster.
I am a little more hopeful … My faith leads me to hope in a “different future” that is more just and peaceful. I also think that the “Church” is one of the places that this transformation will take place. I am hopeful when I hear the generation behind me saying they want a church home that is acting on justice and peace issues. My message to them; Please take your youth and resolve to the next level and dive in and help with a local church that is doing something about justice and peace!

I struggle with what to do and where to go sometimes. I get invited to, and am aware of multiple events, in which I should be interested, given my role as pastor in the community. In other words, I am “busy” most of the time and I am forced to make decisions about how I spend my time. I could not attend, even if I wanted, ALL the events. This busyness is forever, it would seem, and I am NOT forever. That’s right, I must admit that I will not go on forever and that I must learn to prioritize.
I see the “busyness” of the people as well. Young or old, everyone seems to have PLENTY of things to do … every day … day after day.
My question is this, unless the church gets a high priority in, at least some people’s lives, amidst all the “busyness” … can it survive?

This sounds like a very large question. Far too much for a short article like this one would say. On the other hand, one might say the message of the Gospel is, and has always been, very simple.
Love God with all your heart and soul, love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus fleshes it out at the end of Matthew 25 in the “Great Judgment”.
You know the words… I was hungry, you fed me … I was thirsty, you gave me drink … I was a stranger, you welcomed me, and so on.
You get the idea, these are NOT impossible expectations! These are “being a decent human being” things that anyone can do. These are also the things in which the church needs to take the leading role, now and in the future!

What does it mean to be a companion to a mentally ill person? Can I, an ordinary citizen, do it?

Being a companion is as simple as being a friend, a friend that has learned a few insights and boundaries, and who has a large capacity for compassion. There is no medical advice, or monetary help but there is a lot of listening and care given. Any person can be a companion, share a cup of coffee or tea in a public space and simply “be there” for another human being who is in need. Mental health professionals like psychiatrists and nurses and peer counselors and the like are very important, but there are not enough to do all the caring that is needed. We need more “everyday” people to pick up the slack, devote some time and reach out to make a difference in a fellow human beings life.

What in the world … are we (the world) coming to? I am sure all of you have heard this or similar statements regarding unusual or bizarre or heinous events. The killing in Paris this past weekend, along with similar atrocities across the globe that seem to occur every day, are becoming the new norm of terrorism. These folks engaging in this hate filled action are trying to inflict their world view on as many people as possible in the most violent way. World leaders need to be united in their stand against this hate, and they must also realize that responding with violence will only worsen or prolong things. A message must be sent that as much as can be done to prevent these attacks, will be done. We cannot allow this to become a “war” in the standard definition. We should reach out to the citizens caught up in these areas with love and hope and humanitarian aide, eventually they will see their captors for the hate filled violent people they are and they will come to see us as loving and caring. This change cannot occur while conducting surveillance raids with drones and while bombing villages in attempts to “get” one terrorist and at the same time killing many innocents. War is profitable. Many corporations and their stockholders benefit from war, with government arms contracts being very big business. Many of us, for too many years, have turned a blind eye in the name of “big business”. The assumption being that anything that benefited business was good, the bigger the better. After all, lots of people working in the military arms business have good paying secure jobs, and that’s what we need to secure our economy! ?Unfortunately that security comes at a price, and that price is the insecurity of many parts of the world, where people cannot defend themselves and rely on us to do the right thing. FAR too often the largest countries in the world are guilty of sacrificing the poorest in favor of profits. Jesus said in the gospel of Mark chapter 13 that the Temple would fall and not one stone would be left on another … all of the powers and principalities of this world WILL someday fall, the only thing we have control over … is how are we going to live and treat one another in the here and now? In peace and with love or in hatred and with violence? It is not a hard decision and if we can get the profiteers out of the way, we (the world) can make it happen.

This past week or so has been a troubling time as the nation and especially Roseburg Oregon, endures yet another mass shooting event.
These events usually wind up with a lot of disparaging talk about the shooter and their family and the laying of blame. People seem to need to attach labels, like; crazy, terrorist, insane, nut job…etc. to the perpetrators … I suppose in order to label them and box them up for trial and disposal from daily life. Eradicating the memory of the person from life does much to help the general public deal with the crime, but it does little for victims families and little for the mental health community. As with most crime, it is only a small minority that commits the crime that often winds up labeling the whole group.
The trouble with labels is that they promote and drag on the stigma that goes with a mental illness diagnosis. The stigma then reinforces the general public’s views of “those people” and then the unwillingness to engage followed by the lack of concern and avoidance and… you get the idea. No one wants to address the problem, let alone actually DO something to help. Our nation needs a lesson in compassion and forgiveness, and after the lesson a much larger group of people needs to step up and ACT like caring citizens and learn what it takes to become a companion to a mentally ill person … instead of a judge.

There are already some beautiful photos out there of Fall ! The colors are great! I really enjoy the Fall season and relish in it each year. Looking forward to rain (if it ever does rain!) and the renewal that will bring. Of course all the seasons are important in their own way but it’s okay to have a favorite! What’s yours?

The question on the WordPress site asks me “What’s on your mind?” The way I am feeling lately …. very dangerous question indeed!
I have been a fan of watching the political scene for years, local, state and federal levels and especially presidential election cycles. The wrangling over issues and such was always entertaining to me. This political season has left me speechless. The presidential race is a circus that deserves to have the big top dropped to try and cover up the nonsense that emanates from ALL the candidates. If nothing changes before next November I will consider NOT voting at all for the first time.
In local politics, the rancor surrounding the sitting mayor and his “deal” making with the police union and with local “rich guys” and with the abandonment of HIS own appointees has me wondering what it will take for the people of Spokane to stand up finally and say “STOP” and get involved and force the city and its officials (elected or not) to do the right thing.
Unfortunately, the people of Spokane and the rest of the country and great numbers of the rest of the world … are so enamored with consumerism, militarism, patriotism and any other “ism” you want to talk about, that they are unable, certainly unwilling and impotent to ACT. As long as ignorance and apathy dominate, and buying and selling are the only motivators, then we will continue to sink into the pit until the wake up call is so loud that we can no longer ignore. Hopefully the rest of the world of today and our children and grandchildren of tomorrow will forgive our lack of action.
HMMM… maybe electing “The Donald” will so speed our descent into the abyss that we might reach the point of understanding what “ENOUGH” is and then maybe we can get back on the road less traveled … the road of love for God and neighbor.